Best lemon cupcake with lovely lemon frosting on top.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Additional Time: | 4 hrs 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 4 hrs 45 mins |
| Servings: | 36 |
| Yield: | 36 cookies |
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant lemon pudding mix
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 medium lemon, zested and juiced, divided
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
- 1 medium lemon, juiced
Instructions
- Cream butter, sugar, and pudding mix together in a bowl. Beat in egg, lemon juice, and 1/2 of the lemon zest. Set aside remaining lemon zest for icing.
- Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together in another bowl. Add to butter-pudding mixture and beat until well combined. Roll dough into 2 logs, wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.
- Preheat an air fryer to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line the air fryer basket with parchment paper.
- Slice frozen dough into 1/4-inch slices and place in the prepared basket.
- Air fry cookies, working in batches, until edges start to brown, 6 to 10 minutes. Remove from the air fryer and leave in the basket until cool to the touch, then place on a wire rack to cool completely.
- While cookies are baking, combine powdered sugar, lemon juice, and reserved lemon zest in a bowl. Dip 1 side of each cookie in icing. Let icing set until hardened, about 2 minutes.
- Replace lemon pudding mix with vanilla pudding
- mix. Omit lemon zest and juice; replace with 2 tablespoons milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract in Step 2. For icing, whisk together 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, 2 to 3 tablespoon milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract. Dip one side of each cookie into icing. Let icing set until hardened, about 15 minutes.
- Replace lemon pudding mix with 1 (3.9-ounces) pkg. instant chocolate pudding mix. Omit lemon zest and juice; replace with 3 tablespoon milk in Step 2. Stir 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips into dough in Step 3. If you like, omit icing and drizzle cooled cookies with 2 ounces melted semisweet chocolate. Let stand until chocolate is hardened.
- Replace lemon pudding mix with butterscotch
- pudding mix. Replace 1/4 cup of the white sugar with 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar. Omit lemon zest and juice; replace with 2 tablespoons milk in Step 2. Stir 1/3 cup almond toffee bits into dough in Step 3. For icing, stir together 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 to 3 tablespoon milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Dip 1 half of each cookie into icing. Let icing set until hardened, about 15 minutes.
- Replace lemon pudding mix with pistachio pudding mix. Omit lemon zest and juice; replace with 2 tablespoons milk in Step 2. Stir 1/3 cup finely chopped dried cranberries into dough in Step 3. Omit icing and drizzle cooled cookies with 2 ounces melted white chocolate. Let stand until chocolate is hardened.
- Perforated parchment paper sheets designed for use in air fryers are easily purchased online.
- Alternatively, cut a piece of parchment to fit your fryer basket. Using a hole punch or sharp pencil, punch holes about 1 inch apart in the parchment square.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 82 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 14 g |
| Cholesterol | 12 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 1 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 68 mg |
| Sugars | 7 g |
| Fat | 3 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |